AAM 11.5 question

[CDonaldson]

Yes, the spindles are different, they are pressed into the housing, to swap these two requires pulling the spindles and pressing them in. I would guess it is quite a job swapping the spindles, but still could be done. I certainly would not want to go through all of what it takes to swap the parts around, but it can be done. My original question was about them being plug and play as far as the interchangability of the parts, it has been answered by AAM, they are interchangable. If someone could not find a complete axle to swap, this is the only route to get it done. Lots of work to do it, but could be done. I have a friend who just completed this a few days ago, they came to me to use my press for the spindle, it has all turned out good, axle is done.







CD

 

[Deleted member 995608]

Yes, the spindles are different, they are pressed into the housing, to swap these two requires pulling the spindles and pressing them in. I would guess it is quite a job swapping the spindles, but still could be done. I certainly would not want to go through all of what it takes to swap the parts around, but it can be done. My original question was about them being plug and play as far as the interchangability of the parts, it has been answered by AAM, they are interchangable. If someone could not find a complete axle to swap, this is the only route to get it done. Lots of work to do it, but could be done. I have a friend who just completed this a few days ago, they came to me to use my press for the spindle, it has all turned out good, axle is done.







CD

Got any pics??



I don't think your gonna come up with the correct length DRW housing even if you switch the DRW spindles to a SRW housing.



The DRW "housing", measuring from the four bolt flange to the opposing four bolt flange, is roughly 2" shorter than an SRW.



If the overall housing lengths between the DRW and SRW were equal, I'd say, "Yes, they are the same".



I'm not doubting that it can be done, I'm doubting that it will be within the same specs as an OEM DRW AAM axle.

 

[brods]

Yes, the spindles are different, they are pressed into the housing, to swap these two requires pulling the spindles and pressing them in. I would guess it is quite a job swapping the spindles, but still could be done. ... ...

I hope the spindles are welded to the housing after they are pressed in! Did you or your friend take any pictures of the spindle changeover?





Looking in the AAM catalogue there are different axle shaft lengths for MY2003+. Interestingly though for MY2007+ they list a single axle shaft length of 968mm (38. 11"). Why is that?

 

[CDonaldson]

I do not know if my friend took any pics or not, I will ask him. I do know that it is all together and now on the road. What I find interesting about all this is that there does appear to be differences in axle housings and axle measurements in the 2003's to the 2005's, but the 2006's and up appear to measure out the same. I measured my 2006 and another friends 2007, and have measured both DRW's and SRW's in those years.



When I spoke to the AAM engineer, my discussion was relevant to a 2006 and 2007 model year(s) and he assured me that they were the same housings, so maybe, as time has gone along they have made changes that don't seem to be part of the information we have, nor is it reflected in their catalog, but I do know that those two years do measure the same. They do have a couple different axle lengths for SRW's during that time period of 2003-2005, and they also have a couple different axle lengths for the DRW's during that 2003-2005 time period also. They only list one length for axles used after that, and, it is actually different for both the SRW's and DRW's from 2006 and up models. Catalogs only go so far in correctness, and they rarely note part number changes or differences specific to particular applications, and Dodge may well be a particular application with differences. The Dana 80's had similar part number conflicts from Chev, to Ford, to Dodge, so anything is possible to assume at this point.



I cannot speak for AAM, so I really cannot answer your question about that SRW axle for you 2007+ except to say what I have already said, it appears that from 2006 and up they have made changes, and that may be relative to your question. Same appears to apply to the housings being used by Chevy since 3006 as well, I noted that from reading a discussion about the AAM axles on a Chevy site.







CD

 

[mhsmith57]

I know this isn't what this blog is about but I've got a question on the AAM 11. 5. Is there a differential locking system, electric or manual, for this anti-spin system? I have a 2wd 3/4 ton and don't need the 4x4 but a locking differential would be nice.

Mark

 

[AH64ID]

ARB makes an air locker for it.